THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

Jimmy Gordon — An “Instro-Surf-Psycho-Trash-Garage” Classic

Jimmy Gordon — “Buzzzzzz”

’63 A-side is an “instro-surf-psycho-trash-garage” classic (Marco Casas) and “one of the more sought-after records of its genre, having an absolute overload of fuzz guitar and riff-ridden drama.” (23 Daves).

In fact, it “rips so much they insisted on adding additional z’s to that “Buzzzzzz”! [B]listering . . . guaranteed to test the structural integrity of the dance floor”. It was garage before it’s time, so it was re-released, naturally, in ’66, where it reached #121.

Classic45s.com says:

This rare single is one of the earliest 45s to feature use of a “fuzzbox” . . . . The first 45 known to feature fuzz guitar was in 1962 by the Ventures. Here, Jimmy Gordon . . . ably demonstrates its use, and the track also serves as fodder for many other noises of the garage-band era, with its various keyboard/organ parts. In addition, the break finds Jimmy showing off on lead guitar in a style that simply didn’t exist at the time but became ubiquitous by the early 1970’s. . . . [C]owritten by Dave Burgess, who was rhythm guitarist for the Champs for many years.

As to Jimmy, Left and to the Back adds:

There’s some confusion about the identity of Jimmy Gordon. Some have argued that he’s Jim Gordon, a session drummer who later worked with Eric Clapton in Derek and the Dominoes and went to jail for murdering his own mother in 1983 during a schizophrenic episode. It seems much more likely, however, that this single is actually the work of a session bassist with the same name who periodically worked with Dave Burgess of The Champs (and “Tequila” fame) who is also credited here.

See my website at bracefortheobscure60srock.com.